Improvement in the manufacture of manganese, ferro-manganese, and spiegeleisen



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OGDEN BOLTON, JR, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANGANESE, FERRO-MANGANESEl ANDSPIEGELEISEN.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 141,419, dated August5, 1873; application filed March 24, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OGDEN BOLTEN, J r., of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in the Manufacture of Manganese, Ferro-Manganese, andSpiegeleisen; and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description thereof, such as will enable others skilled in theart to make and use the same.

The articles known as ferro-manganese and spiegeleisen are extensivelyused in the manufacture of steel and the higher qualities ofwrought-iron, and the ferro -manganese, as heretofore prepared, has beenmade chiefly by melting manganese, pulverized carbons, and pig-iron orspiegeleisen, while the spiegeleisen is made chiefly in theblast-furnace.

By my improvement I produce the manganese in a condition pure, or nearlyso, without melting, and employ it in the making of ferromanganese andspiegeleisen, in the manner presently to be described, so as to producea better quality of product in less time and at less expense than by theprocesses heretofore in use.

In my improved process I take of the ordinary oxide of manganese aboutten parts, by Weight, to three parts of solid carbon, such as charcoal,coke, or anthracite coal, or the equivalent thereof of gaseous carbon.Both these ingredients are preferably pulverized, and, when mixedthoroughly, are inclosed in cases or boxes of suitable material, eithermetallic, or made of silicious or aluminous earths. These cases or boxesmay be of any suitable size for containing any desired charge. They arepreferably made close, except at one end, where the charge isintroduced, and such open end I close up with a covering of charcoal,clay, or other like substances, such as will permit the escape of thegases evolved in the process of reduction, but which will prevent theentrance of atmospheric air in injurious quantities.

Instead of this covering of charcoal and clay, a loose metallic sheetmay be advantageously employed with a sand covering around the edges, inwhich case, as the bulk of the charge lessens in the process ofreduction, the loose plate will follow it down. These boxes or cases arethen charged into any suitable heating furnace, such, for example, asthe ordinary reverberatory furnace, and are there raised to temperatureless than melting heatsay, a bright red or bare yellowand after thecontents are well heated through they are continued subject to this heatfor about from twelve to fifteen hours, according to the quantity. Themanganese employed in this process maybe either protoxide or peroxide.In the process described the carbon unites with the oxygen and passesoff as carbonic-acid gas or carbonic oxide, and gives as a productmanganese, nearly or quite pure.

The product thus obtained I employ to secure spiegeleisen orferro-manganese, in the following manner: I melt the pig-iron in theordinary way, but, preferably, in a reverberatory furnace, and chargeinto it about twelve per cent. of the manganese produced, as above, andmelt the manganese therein. Where the manganese is reduced in metalliccases it may be charged into the molten metal in the box either hot orcold; or, as I sometimes do, it may be compressed into lumps or bloomsof convenient size for handling, and charged in that form into themolten pig metal. This proportion of ingredients I run off, when melted,into ingots as spiegeleisen, or tap it directly into the Bessemerconverter or open hearth, where it is used as spiegeleisen, in theordinary way.

To produce ferro-manganese I simply charge into the molten pig metal alarger proportion of manganese, such as will give in the molten productthe desired percentage of manganese-say, twenty-five or thirty per cent,more or less-and run off into ingots or tap ofi' into the converter oropen hearth the molten product, as before specified. But, if sopreferred, the pig metal and reduced manganese may, in the proportionsabove indicated, be melted together in the reverberatory furnace, thoughless advantageously.

The manganese, as produced by the process first described, I also useadvantageously by charging the same while inclosed in its case or box;or, when compressed, into blooms di" rectly into the molten steel of theBessemer converter or the open hearth. The manganese counteractsred-shortness in the steel, apparently by uniting with the free oxygenor metallic oxides which may be in the steel, and in this mode of usingit is particularly useful in the manufacture of boiler-plate steel. Fromone half to one per cent. of manganese will ordinarily give the bestresults in this use.

In connection With my process as above described I do not limit myselfto a pure, or nearly pure, article or manganese, as it may be desirableto use, in connection with the manganese, a greater or less percentageof carbon. When the pure, or nearly pure, manganese is required, Iproportion my carbon so nearly as to all carried off while reducing; orI use carbonaceous gases; but, where it is desired to have carbon withthe manganese, I increase the proportion of carbon to such an extentthat when the manganese is reduced, or reduced as nearly as possible inpractice, there will be still the desired proportion of carbon left,though I consider it still better to use a highly-carbonized pig-iron,either in the case or separate, as a part of the charge for a bath ofmolten steel where manganese and carbon are both to be introducedtherein.

The process described I employ advantageously in connection with themetallic ores, which, in their native state, contain the oxide ofmanganese and oxide of iron. In such cases I introduce with the oxide ofmanganese and oxide of iron a sufficient amount of carbon to carry off,when heated, the oxygen, by which I secure the product of metallic ironand metallic manganese mixed, which product I then use in the manneralready indicated.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The reduction of manganese in close boxes or cases in a suitablefurnace at less than a melting heat, with or without the introduction ofiron, substantially in the manner set forth.

2. The manufacture of spiegeleisen and ferro-manganese by charging theunmelted or metallic manganese produced, as set forth, either in boxesor in blooms into pig metal previous to or after melting, substantiallyas in the manner set forth.

3. The charging of metallic manganese, either in cases or blooms into abath or molten steel, substantially in the manner set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I hereunto affixmy signature this 17th day of March, 1873.

OGDEN BOLTON, JR.

Witnesses:

W. N. PAXTON, F. B. N uncle

